Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Wet N' Wild Ultimate Sherr Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 15




How much does it cost? $3.99 (By the way, the Covergirl foundation I used for size comparison in the video was actually about $6.99+, sorry!)
How long does it last? Pretty long. Not much product is needed.

The tinted moisturizer is smooth, not at all oily. It doesn't have a strong odor and goes on smooth. It's decently easy to blend with fingers or a makeup sponge.

I decided to buy this because I absolutely hate foundation and coverup! I don't like the thick, cakey feeling so I usually don't wear anything to cover my skin. I do, however, like to have something for covering the occasional breakout and this seemed light weight enough to not matter.

It does go on easily and blends well, although the color selection is a little dark for my skin tone and I can only use it in summer. I would say it gives a good coverage for mild redness; I used it when I know I might be hot and flushed or if I have a slightly red zit. You can build the coverage up a little or put something over or under it for more coverage. I am pretty prone to getting zits from makeup but I don't notice any more than usual when I wear this, so for me it doesn't cause breakouts although your skin may react differently.

I don't like that the bottle says the color adjusts to your skin tone, because it doesn't. I don't like that the color is very gold, almost orange. I also don't like that my cap fell apart shortly after I got it. However, none of these things are enough to make me regret my purchase, and I will probably purchase again next summer.

Quality for Price - 3.5/5
Overall Quality - 4/5

VIDEO REVIEW!
coming soon.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Freeman Feeling Beautiful Avocado & Oatmeal facial CLAY MASQUE

How much does it cost? $3.99
How long does it last? probably 10-20 masques in there.




Where to start...
The mask is a pale green, almost sea foam? I wasn't very fond of the smell, but I don't like avocados. It has the clean smell with an undertone of avocado. It feels creamy and smooth.

found this while trying to get more of my usual mask. I wrangled my sister into trying this new find with me because she happen to be over visiting that night. I did my usual ritual of washing my face then doing a vinegar and tea tree oil steam thing. I put my mask on first, as I applied it started to burn a little. I kept going, I know sometimes a mask will burn for a few seconds so I wanted to see if the burning would fade. I then applied my sister's mask, my face still burning. After a few seconds my sister claims her face is burning so I told her mine was burning to so maybe it's normal.

We kept the mask on a good 15mins until it dried. Our faces burned the whole time. My face even burned a little after I washed it off.

A week later it occurred to me that it might have burned because of the steam bath before the masque. I tried it again without a steam bath first. Unfortunately it still burned!

However, the product was not a total waste; after the burning stopped my skin felt clean and soft. I don't feel it kept away the zits like my usual masque, but it was still nice. If you don't have a problem with zits and you don't have sensitive skin, then this may be a good buy for you.

quality for price - 3.5/5 (assuming your skin is not sensitive!)
overall quality - 3/5

and just for fun, here is my sister, me, and one of my cats while trying the masque for the first time:

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Suave Professionals Rosemary Mint Shampoo

How much does it cost? just under $3 for 32oz and a little under $2 f0r 14.5oz I believe
How long does it last? about average for shampoo. I go through shampoo fast because my hair is super thick and there is a lot of it, but I don't need to use more of this than I do with other shampoos.


this is the conditioner because I could not find a picture of the shampoo. also mine came with a salon pump again :)

if you have a cold, this is an amazing product to open your sinuses! once you star lathering mint and rosemary fill the bathroom. it tingles, but just a little and in a refreshing manner not burning or anything. the lather is fluffy and rich. I really enjoy using this shampoo because it's easy to work through my hair (which is uncommon since my hair is so thick)

once I rinsed out the shampoo, my hair felt so soft I was tempted not to use conditioner! it leaves your hair and scalp feeling very clean, but not dried out. I've found with shampoos that really clean your hair well often dry it out, but this shampoo really kept my hair soft. I have seen a few reviews where people complain about it drying out their hair, so remember just because it works for me does NOT mean it will work for you, but for this price it's worth a shot!

so, once again I was highly impressed by suave professionals.

quality for price: 5/5
quality overall: 4.5/5

Monday, February 22, 2010

Sauve Professionals: Humectant

How much does it cost? I paid just under $3 for mine (I have a bigger bottle than the one pictured bellow, mine is 32oz and came with a "salon pump". I believe the 14.5oz is a somewhere around $170ish?)
How long does it last? a loooooong time.



I have very thick hair. it's also straight, apparently this isn't a common combination. I also color my hair pretty frequently, but it's still in great condition (knock on wood!). and my hair is about 3 inches past my shoulders. since my hair is long(ish) and thick, and has minor damage (it's not damaged from color so much as it just get tangled easily now) I need a good conditioner to keep it in line.

this is my third time trying sauve professionals. the first time was a conditioner of some sort I was skeptical. it's normally very watered down so I have to squeeze some of the water out of my hair before use to keep from watering it down more. so I squeezed out my hair like normal but the product that came out of the bottle was rich and creamy. I had to wet my hair more before I put it on. the final result was pretty good and while I can't place what the product was, it did whatever it promised. the second time was a week or so before this one, some rosemary mint shampoo (which I will be posting about later this week).

so when I was looking for a new conditioner and was pacing between my normal pantene and and aussie product I hadn't tried in a while (conditioner is one thing I "splurge" on... although some hardly call a $4 bottle of conditioner splurging, it is to me!). I saw this out of the corner of my eye, a slightly bigger bottle for about half the price of my pantene... and I had been meaning to try to the sauve humectant after my beauty chool teacher went on and on about humectants (although I'm sure if she knew it encouraged me to buy sauve she'd kill herself because she is an uneducated hair snob who just assumes a higher price automatically means better products).

the smell is really nice. it's sweet, almost coconut but not quite. the smell doesn't linger, so if you don't like the smell don't worry. it's creamy and much thicker than you'd expect if you haven't tried sauve professionals yet. once it's on, my hair felt super soft. I worked it in and found that it's really good at detangling.

now, if you rinse it out right away, it's nice and silky. however, I like to clip my hair up and leave it in while I wash my body/shave/ect. this gives it more time to absorb and work it's magic. the only thing you might want to save for after is washing your face if you're acne prone or washing off your back or arms or anything else that might be prone to zits on you. I usually rinse it out after I wash my body then clip it back up and wash my back and face.

after the shower, my hair feels silky and is much easier to comb. the soft feeling lasts once your hair is dry. all in all, I am very pleased with this conditioner. I will continue to buy.

for those of you who have seen the "compare to nexxus" or "works as well as nexxus"... while I have not tried nexxus humectant or whatever, I have tried another nexxus product. I was unimpressed. it was too thick for me to evenly coat my hair, so I had to use a ton of it, which is a waste. then because I had used so much it left my hair greasy. I tried watering it down which worked better, but I would NOT spend the money on it (I had gotten a free bottle).
I feel like sauve professionals is probably a slightly watered down version of salon brands. if you look at the ingredients, it really is the same. personally, I like that it contains more water, I can evenly spread it around and not end up using half the bottle. I also feel like it's well worth it. for double the size bottle and about 1/3 (or less) the price, the watering down is not enough that if you bought nexxus and watered it down you'd be paying the same price.... if that makes any sense.

quality for price 5/5 (I'd vote higher if I could... I have tried salon brands before and this really is comparable)
quality overall 5/5

Thursday, February 4, 2010

New York Color (NYC) Waterproof Mascara

How much does it cost? $1.99
How long does it last? about as long as a normal mascara tube, it maybe be a bit smaller but I think it's about the same size as most tubes.


I've been searching for the perfect mascara forever it seems. I really thought it was a myth. while this mascara is not the perfect mascara for me, it is a close second and the price difference may put this one in first place.

I bought this mascara with not much hope; after all we've always been a family that has avoided name brands because of the price-tag but we've ALWAYS used name brand mascara. I figured there was a darn good reason for this and when all the mascaras fell off my eyes after one blink or my eyes were bleednig the next day I'd feel stupid about waning to save an extra $5 or so.

the mascara went on beautifully. no clumps, all lashes covered, jet black like the name promised (there is also black brown). I was very impressed. but, how long did it stay? waterproof mascaras are a must for me, and they never live up to their name. I sneezed, I yawned, I rubbed my eyes. still there! eventually I cried, in fact I bawled. it stayed. beautiful! I was very pleased with my tiny purchase. the most amazing part is if you don't wash this off at night it's still there, looking only slightly worn, the next morning.

now, this can be taken as either a positive or negative... you probably need an eye makeup remover to remove this stuff. I wash my face with soap and just scrub really hard to get the mascara off when I'm that concerned, but most of the time I just leave it on. so if you don't like to fight with your mascara to get it off, this might not be the mascara for you. because instead of just being waterproof this mascara should probably be called apocalypse proof. when I don't apply more, it takes about 2-3 days before it looks like I really forgot mascara and about 5-7 days before there isn't a trace left on my eyes.

quality for price 5/5
quality overall 4.5/5

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

New York Color (NYC) Liquid Lip Shine

How much does it cost? $1.99
How long does it last? well I don't wear lipgloss often, so mine has lasted me almost a year so far and there is plenty left! however it's an average sized tube, so about as long as it normally would.



the color I purchased was petal pink, which is a nice peachy pink color with a little shimmer to it. the picture above is of either pink sand or cappuccino I believe.

I have tried many lip glosses all varying in price over the years in search of the perfect lipgloss. the biggest problem obviously is stickiness! this lipgloss isn't very sticky, I mean all lipglosses have a bit f stickiness to them just because they're wet. it's rather smooth and silky and not tacky at all. so while I can't promise your hair won't get stuck on it, your lips won't be sticking together.

it's a pretty good moisturizer too, almost as good as chapstick. afterward my lips feel perfectly kissable!

my only real complaint about this lipgloss is that to absorbs/fades pretty fast. once it's absorbed in what's left is sticky, so you have to reapply fairly often. the color stays a lot longer than the silky texture though.

which brings me to the color aspect... the color I chose left just a hint of peach on my lips with lots of shine and shimmer which s exactly what I was looking for.

quality for price - 5/5
overall quality - 3.5/5

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Equate Original Formula Beauty Lotion

How much is it? $5.97 at Walmart ($9.97ish for Olay's version... ouch!)
How long does it last? I just bought it last night so I'm not sure, however I used less than a dine sized squirt and it was a little too much. so I'm going to guess it will last me a while.

my box looks a little different, this might be old packaging but it's the only picture I could find.

let me first start by saying that I have combination skin. in the winter my cheeks always get extremely dry! however this is the first winter that I am not using my old brand of magical, miracle face soap because despite what they say, they changed the formula. the combination of products I use now to keep me free of zits apparently makes my cheeks and around my lips so dry they might fall off and even my t-zone dry enough to flake a bit. this is both ugly and painful; something had to be done. I have a face lotion that is supposed to help fight zits, however since it's medicated it just dried my face out more.
so I went in search of an AFFORDABLE face lotion that wouldn't clog pores and was not specifically designed for something... and by something I mean that apparently EVERY lotion these days is "dual" purpose. "with spf15!" "anti-aging" "fine line erasing!" "acne fighting" and I need absolutely none of those... I'm 21 so I don't have wrinkles. I don't really go out in the sun very often, I don't think the walk to the car merits sunscreen. and as I already said skin clearing lotion just dries me out more at this point.
my search resulted in TWO (yes out of a whole walmart isle there were only two lotions that are simply moisturizing face lotions). Olay beauty lotion and Walmart's version. I did research and found users of Olay's lotion swear by it, so I decided to try it.

Down to the actual review... the smell is pleasant. a lot like Johnson and Johnson baby lotion. it's slight's pink tinted. it feels like normal lotion on my fingers. the second I rubbed it into my face it turned into a heavenly, moisturizing... well, moisturizer. it soaked in pretty fast, but not in the "okay it's absorbed and you're still dry and flaky" kind of way. my skin felt soothed and hydrated. after 5mins my skin was silky soft and no longer burning.

I have only been using it for a day, but I already love it!
I'm not going to rate it just yet, in case I break out in hives after using it after tonight's shower or something. I think next week I'll update with a rating so I have time to form a solid opinion, but so far it's amazing and well worth the $6 (a little more than I was hoping to pay!)

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Montagne Jeunesse Dead Sea Mud Pac

How much does it cots? $1.50 (give or take a few cents depending on the store)
How long does it last? I believe it's supposed to be a one application thing, but I can get 2-4 applications from one pack so it lasts me about a month.




This is one of my miracle, must have products. I love this stuff and cannot praise it enough! I have t-zone skin, it's not very acne prone but I do have a few breakouts during my "special week". However, I've found this works on pretty much any skin type as friends and family have used it. It sucks the excess oil out of my skin, but doesn't dry out my cheeks. My whole face is left feeling soft and refreshed. The smell is a hard to describe clean type of smell and the color is light green.

I normally use this right after a shower at night when I'm ready to relax (it is anti-stress after all!). I also like to do a steam bath right before to open up my pores (I put a few drops of tea tree oil and vinegar to help with breakouts).

When first applied it feels really refreshing; like creamed cucumbers or something. As it dries it tightens up. After rinsing it off the skin is left silky soft; not dried out and not oily. Yes, it magically balances the skin instead of just oiling up the dry or drying out the oily!

quality for price - 5/5
overall quality - 5/5
highly recommended!